They went for a walkabout...

[Tuddy]

Thursday afternoon, after work, I head out to the pasture to bring in my three guys for grain. Daily occurance. They usually come running when I call, and we go to the barn yard and have our grain and a visit, and then head back out to the big, 20 acre, pasture.

But not that day.... Oh no, they had decided to go for a walk. I have no idea how they got out of the fence, I think a moose may have spooked them. I also learned that we have elk in our neck of the woods now, too. I wonder if they seen the elk and said, no thank you!

Drove around as much as could on Thursday before it got dark, and found tracks as to where they were headed. Friday morning, I went back to where I left off and toured around farmers fields. About 11 am, I decide to head home, fill up the coffee mug and go back out. I drove out of the one field that I had tracked them on, and noticed tracks heading towards home. I look across the field, and there they were, in a field a half a mile from home. I drove through the field, parked the truck, and called them. They were so happy to see me. I put a halter on my daughter's QH, Stetson, locked up the truck, and we treked the one mile to home.

Little buggers!!!

Homeward Bound.jpg (175.36 KiB) Viewed 12535 times

And this is Tuddy, just walking along side me, happy to be heading home. Love that big bay bugger!

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[PaulaO]

Stinkers! So glad you found them, and glad they acted slightly contrite.

[KathyK]

I would have been frantic! Glad the little monsters decided to head home.

[SnowHorse]

Yeah, I would have SO freaked out, totally, had ours done that. I've had nightmares of that before, and it still frightens me!!

[Moutaineer]

I'm glad everyone got home safely.

Elk are hell on fences. We have a large herd here that just walk through mine on a regular basis--very annoying. The horses aren't scared of them, however, but moose produce freak-outs of epic proportions.

Mine did this last winter through a hole the elk had made. Talk about heart failure. Even though I live in a wild place with very little traffic, the traffic that there is isn't expecting to encounter two large blanketed objects (and a mini) wandering around, and I found them walking in single file down the edge of the road towards home in the dark...

[Chisamba]

So glad you found them

[Rhianon]

They look so "ho hum" about the whole thing. I hope you cut out their apple ration in punishments! LOL

[Tarlo Farm]

I HATE when they do that! Actually, I now live in an area where the traffic is bad and they really would be in danger if they got out.
Years ago, when I had just one and his pet goat, they went for a walkabout - down the road, under the expressway, over a bridge, back to their old farm four miles away, at night! Horse was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, little short-legged goat was VERY happy to jump in hatchback and catch a ride home.
Added a whole handful of grey hairs to my head.

[Tabby]

Bad ponies!!!! At least they have the decency to act guilty (sort of). When I was young, some horses got out into the neighbourhood where I lived and ravaged everyone's apple trees. The farmer was mad as hell but we loved it!

[fergusnc]

So glad everyone is OK!

[bailey]

Dang! Glad you found them and they're home safe & sound.

[angela9823]

Mine have gotten loose more times than I care to really discuss and we live next to a major highway. That is part of the issue. People run into my fence and don't think a thing about what might be behind the fence. I've had a cop watch as eight horses crossed over a downed fence line that had a car on top of it. It is so scary.

So glad your ponies are safe and sound and at home!

[Josette]

Very glad everyone got home safely. Your photos are stunning with all the open space - - something not seen where I live. We are tucked into a wooded area with nearby housing developments, highways, shopping malls. Years ago, my one guy went down to the stop sign then turned around and ran back home - thank goodness. Yes, it did add to the gray hairs.

[Tuddy]

They look so "ho hum" about the whole thing. I hope you cut out their apple ration in punishments! LOL

I told them they were grounded for two weeks and took away their toys.

I was pretty frantic that they were gone. It's one thing to have someone come up your driveway and say, hey, your horses are on the road, and another thing to go out to find them gone. My hair was turning grey at a pretty fast pace!

Very glad everyone got home safely. Your photos are stunning with all the open space - - something not seen where I live. We are tucked into a wooded area with nearby housing developments, highways, shopping malls. Years ago, my one guy went down to the stop sign then turned around and ran back home - thank goodness. Yes, it did add to the gray hairs.

Yes, I am on the flat land of the Prairies. I am lucky, as my farm is about 6 miles from the valley, so we are on the edge of the treelines and do have a fair amount of bush/trees too. It is a perfect mix. For December 9, we are extremely lucky and have no snow. Or at least very little. Generally, there is enough for the folks with skidoos be ripping around already, and we would be sitting at -20°C temps for the daytime highs.